We woke this morning at 6:00 am with all of our watch alarms chiming different sounds in a totally random manner. With the subdued lighting that we have in the habitat, the first view that we see on awakening is out the bunkroom view port where there are fish feeding on suspended plankton in the ocean mist. The silvery forms of barracuda flash by intermittently, reminding us that they are always present surveying the situation. In contrast to space where we awaken to the sound of wake-up music played by mission control, here the situation is more subdued with a gradual transition from sleep to wakefulness. The first activity of the day is to locate the Kona coffee and prepare a hot mug for each of the crew. We are running low and we hope for more in one of the re-supply "pots" from the surface later in the day.

We talked about the plan for the day as we ate breakfast. This morning we had a relatively light breakfast of granola bars, vegetable quiche with cheese and salsa in a soft taco, and some applesauce. Our surface support team joined us for a videoconference at 7:30 am. We reviewed the daily plan for each of the aquanaut teams and spent a fair amount of time reviewing the set-up procedure for the educational outreach events that were scheduled for later in the day. Originally Bill and I were scheduled for an EVA (dive) first thing in the morning but we cancelled the dive to help Ryan get everything ready inside Aquarius for the first event. This multimedia event was coordinated by Ball State University, the Public Broadcasting System, and NASA, and is called Journey to the Space Station. Since this is such an effective analogue environment for space there was a lot of interest in having our crew participate.

At 10:00 am we were standing by with Mike G. and Mike L.A. outside the habitat looking in through the main viewport by the dining table. We got some great shots of two crew inside and two crew outside while we were waiting for the connection with JSC and Space Center Houston. When we came on line we were answered questions for a number of students who were interested in the science we are doing and what it is like living in the ocean in Aquarius. After the event finished we heard that there were approximately 4 million students who participated. It is exciting to think that such a large group had a chance to learn about our excitement. We are using our skills that we learned to perform complex scientific experiments in space, in a new environment - the undersea realm. We are also participating in underwater research with some of the best marine researchers in the world. From outer space to inner space. We know experience the undersea world enjoyed by so many, and we are learning about the diversity and complexity of life and the amazing beauty of our planet.

After the educational outreach event finished Mike and Mike came back inside to join us for lunch. We dined on noodle soup, snack food, granola bars, and applesauce before getting suited up at 12:30 pm for the afternoon educational outreach event. For the second event, Bill and I went outside (another EVA) while Mike and Mike remained inside to answer questions from the students. The event seemed to go well, although Bill and I were only able to hear some of the student questions due to a little difficulty with our underwater communication headsets. Still, imagine hearing any questions from students thousands of miles away while we're 60 feet underwater and almost four miles offshore! While we waited for the event to start we enjoyed watching all of the reef fish swimming and playing with us. The beauty of their colors and their interest in our activities was truly amazing and kept us entertained as we hovered near Aquarius. Once again the event seemed to generate a lot of interest. After the event Bill and I left to swim down to the S4 site to collect water specimens for one of the science experiments we are working on.

The specimen collection went quickly. We filled 3 syringes with sea water about 1 meter above the sand and off the bottom and returned the specimens to the sample collection bag we carried with us. We then continued along the S4 line to a depth of 90 feet to become more familiar with the terrain in that area. By the time we returned along the S4 line we needed to proceed to the habitat to refill our tanks to continue our dive. We handed our water specimens to Otter (Mark) to have them put on ice.

After refilling our tanks we left the habitat and completed an evaluation of our communication headsets with mission control in Houston while Mike G. and Mike L.A. were getting suited (putting on their dive gear) to join us for the reef science experiments. The Kirby Morgan Supermasks worked very well and we were able to communicate effectively with the team in mission control to a distance of approximately 100 meters from the habitat. We returned to the habitat to rendezvous with Mike and Mike. We then swam along the NE excursion line to lay more transect lines to count and photograph the large coral formations for Dr. Miller. Bill and I returned to the habitat at 3:38 pm to complete our dive for the afternoon. After showering, cleaning our equipment, and completing our science objectives, I decided to take a quick nap before the crew meeting at dinnertime.

The team meeting by videoconference started at 6:15 pm and we discussed the science accomplishments of the day before reviewing the timeline for tomorrow. We ate during the meeting and had green beans, potatoes and smoked turkey. As we finished the day cleaning up the habitat the crew has been drawn to a discussion of the similarities and differences of the life of an aquanaut and that of an astronaut. It is interesting transitioning from one to the other and I am even more appreciative of having the good fortune to have been able to see the world from such unique perspectives.

I am looking forward to tomorrow evening when we will be doing the first night dive of the mission!! It should be fun.